South Ruislip is an area of west London in the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

, south-east of

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

, south of

Eastcote Eastcote is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in northwest Greater London, London. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot. The name came from its p ...

, north-west of

Northolt Northolt is a town in West London, England, spread across both sides of the A40 trunk road. It is west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing. It had a population of 30,304 a ...

, and west of South Harrow. A 2017 estimation put the population of South Ruislip ward as 13,150 residents. The population, according to the

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

, was 10,823. By 2008, this had reached 11,116.

Education

Schools in South Ruislip include Bourne Primary, Deanesfield, Field End, St Swithun Wells and Queensmead.

Sports

McGovern Park is located on West End Road and is the headquarters of

London GAA The London County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Coiste Londain) or London GAA is one of the county boards outside Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in London. The county board is also ...

. It is the primary venue for playing

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of pla ...

and

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Transport

South Ruislip station is served by the Central line of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The U ...

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Rai ...

serve hourly, with trains to London Marylebone and . Although no bus route directly serves the station,

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus ...

route E7 serves one end of nearby Station Approach and route 114 serves the other. RAF Northolt station entrance

The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

station,

RAF Northolt RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of Heathrow Airport. The station handles many private civil flights in addition ...

, is situated in South Ruislip near the A40 and the tube station. Most early RAF airfields were named after the nearest railway station; in this case Northolt Junction, the original name of South Ruislip station.

Demography

In the 2011 UK census, the racial makeup of South Ruislip was: 73% White, 16% Asian, 5% Black. 75.8% of the working age population was economically active. 38% of residents lived in semi-detached houses; 28% in terraced houses; 27% in flats/maisonettes/apartments; and 8% in detached houses. 69.4% of households owned their homes, 19% were privately rented, 10.1% were socially rented.

Landmarks

Polish fighter pilots during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended ...

were based at

, and the Polish War Memorial was built later after the conflict. The memorial stands next to the A40 adjacent to the airfield, and is dedicated to the memory of the Polish airmen who fought with the

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. A damaged

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is it ...

, attempting to land at RAF Northolt, crashed in Station Approach in October 1942. The resulting fire caused the remaining ammunition on board to detonate, and 21 people were killed. In the 1950s and 1960s RAF South Ruislip supported by RAF West Ruislip was Headquarters, 7th Air Division of the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile c ...

(SAC), supporting SAC operations in the UK until 1958 when the 7th Air Division relocated to

RAF High Wycombe RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s. ...

, and the station became Headquarters, 3d Air Force and transferred to United States Air Forces, Europe. In 1972 HQ, 3d Air Force relocated to

RAF Mildenhall Royal Air Force Mildenhall or RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a Royal Air Force station, it primarily supports United States Air Force (USAF) operations, an ...

and the buildings remained empty until 1995 when they were demolished. In 2012, the BBC announced it would be moving the Digital Media Services branch of BBC Studios and Post Production from

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, oper ...

to the Odyssey Business Park opposite RAF Northolt between February and March 2013.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (1994) ''Ruislip Past''. London: Historical Publications * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (2007) ''Around Ruislip, Eastcote, Northwood, Ickenham & Harefield''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing

External links

South Ruislip Residents Association

Ruislip Web Site
{{LB Hillingdon Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Hillingdon